Obama-Castro: Historic Cuba Normalization Announced

Presidents Obama and Raúl Castro simultaneously announced on December 17, 2014, that the US and Cuba would restore diplomatic relations after 53 years of estrangement. The agreement included prisoner exchanges, easing of travel restrictions, and the removal of Cuba from the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list. The US embassy in Havana reopened in August 2015. Obama visited Cuba in March 2016—the first US president to visit since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.